New Member from Washington State

I started to clean the smoker today to see if it was good enough to still hold smoke in the chamber.  I only used water and scrapped it quickly to get the bigger that have corroded and were peeling.  I still need to use a small brush to really scrub it good to get it much cleaner.  It appears the body itself is very solid.  The boards on the front were rotted so they will need to be replaced.  It would not hurt to change all the nuts and bolts just so I know they will be in good working order before they fall apart.  However there was some protective guard inside the fuel chamber that was completed falling apart with holes.  I think it was to put the coals on so they do not damage the units shell.  That will defiantly need to be replace.  I am missing a couple grills but I probably should just replace those too anyways.  Since someone will have to make me the grills and the new guard piece I may as well have them put another piece in under the rack for the meat with holes and try to modify this thing into a Reverse Smoker.

My first project will be to actually make some bacon.  I checked prices in some of the shops around town.  

The cheapest I could find Boston Butt was $2.09/lb regular price for the whole piece.

The cheapest I could find Pork Belly was $2.99/lb regular price for the whole piece.

I could only find Cure Salt at one store so I was stuck paying $2.49 for 0.25 lbs. ( 62.5 cents per ounce)

I have not priced the wood or fuel yet for the smoking.

I plan on doing a little more research and hopefully get some meat in the cure solution in the next day or two.  That will give me a couple weeks to actually get the smoker in working order.

timberjet said:

 
I could be wrong but that looks like maybe Cure #2. You know you can use Tender Quick. It is cheap and at just about every grocery store. 

Click to expand...

I thought Cure #2 had to have Sodium Nitrate in it.  I made sure this did not have Nitrate and only had 6.25% Nitrite.  This does have Sodium Bicarbonate and Propylene Glycol which I would prefer it not to have, but I never read anything about those being an issue.

I am still looking around for better prices on the ingredients.  If anyone has a link to some Cure #1 that is cheaper online then 62.5 cents per ounce please let me know.

P.S.  I looked at the Tender Quick and that is not Cure #1 either.  Tender Quick is a mixture of Cure #1, Sugar, and other Ingredients.  This may be great for those who want a quick simple mix without having to mix in there own sugar.